I'll Walk You Home
by Horcrux7
Summary: Draco wants to make amends, starting with Hermione, who is drowning her broken heart in every pub in London. But no matter where she goes Draco is right behind her, ready to walk her home.
1. Let Me Buy You a Drink

**Let Me Buy You a Drink**

A figure slid onto the barstool next to her and ordered a beer. It didn't matter what pub she ended up in, he always found her. Going to Muggle London hadn't even stopped him this time. "Do we really have to play this game?"

He glanced over at her but didn't say anything.

She turned her whole body and leaned close to him. "Was seven years of torture not enough for you?" she whispered harshly.

His platinum locks were falling in his face when he turned to her. "I'm not aiming to torture you," he said simply.

Like she believed that! "Then why are you here?" she asked, then lowered her voice. "In a Muggle pub?"

He shrugged and turned back to the bar. "I've been to all the Magical pubs. I wanted to try something new."

This had been going on for a week and she was fed up. She reached into her pocket and grabbed a couple quid and threw it on the bar for her drink. Clearly her days in a pub were over because he always seemed to find her.

She was stomping her way down the sidewalk when it hit her. "Hang on!"

"What?"

The voice startled her and she whirled around to see Draco standing a few meters behind her.

"I shouldn't have to leave! We won!" she exclaimed as if she had just realized it.

He looked at her in confusion. "This has nothing to do with the war. It doesn't even have anything to do with mag—" He looked around and lowered his voice. "Our world."

She scoffed. "What does that mean?" she asked, crossing her arms. "What could you possibly want?"

He looked away and shrugged. "For starters, I'd like to know why you frequent pubs."

To say she was speechless would have been an understatement; she couldn't conjure a coherent thought. She stared at him, her mouth hanging open, and she uncrossed her arms. "It's none of your business."

"I suppose not. I only wondered," he whispered softly.

The compassion in his voice confused her. This was Draco Malfoy after all…at least, it looked like him anyway. He wasn't supposed to wonder about her, even if the war had changed things.

"Does it have anything to do with Weasley?"

She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "I'll reiterate that it's none of your business, but yes." It had everything to do with Weasley…

She was poised to leave again when he took another step toward her. "What has he done?"

Hermione stared at him in disbelief. "Why do you care? You shouldn't care!" Her shoulders relaxed. "I shouldn't even be curious."

"I'm curious," he whispered and took a few more steps toward her.

She held out her hand to stop him. "Don't be," she retorted seriously. "Leave me alone, Malfoy."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"What can I get you?" the bartender asked another patron in the quiet, little pub.

"Just whatever's on tap, cheers," an all too familiar voice said two spaces away.

Hermione looked up from her half full glass and there he was. She took another swig and moved to leave but changed her mind. She had every right to stay there. She was the one who was Muggle born after all. Besides, she was tired of running from him and today had been worse than usual and she really wanted to stay right where she was.

"How do you do it?" she asked without looking up. He would know she was talking to him. After all, there were only two more patrons in the room and it was nearly two in the morning. "How do you always find me?"

He nodded his thanks to the barkeep when he was handed his drink and he picked it up and moved next to her. "Process of elimination."

She shook her head slowly, not believing him. "I bet you've got a Marauder's Map of London or something hidden in your pocket."

He ignored her. "Let me buy you a drink?"

Her eyes narrowed at him and she looked down at her nearly empty pint. Well if he wasn't threatening her, she could let him supply her with another glass. Its not like she had endless amounts of money after all…and he had caused her to waste several pints in the past week. "Have you even got the proper currency?"

He smirked at her with his classic, devil-may-care smirk. It had been a long time since she had seen it grace his face. He almost looked appealing. "I'm always prepared. Barkeep, another for the lady!"

Hermione rolled her eyes. Apparently he was also handy with a double entendre. But she was swiftly handed another drink, so she had no right to complain. "So what exactly possessed you to buy me a drink and ask me probing, personal questions?"

He shrugged. "After the war, my mother had a change of heart and I'm learning from her. Trying to make amends."

She nodded and sipped her drink. She already knew that, in a way. "Yes, I received your mother's _amends_ last month. I didn't immediately realize it was from her since she used only her maiden name. But it was a good boost for my company."

"Good, but I'm choosing to make my amends in person. Starting with you."

She rolled her eyes again. Perhaps the alcohol was getting to her head. "Aren't I special?" she mumbled.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw his eyes slide shut and he inhaled deeply. A little bit of the old Malfoy must still be in there. Only, he surprised her. "You are special."

She choked on the liquid in her mouth and quickly swallowed. Her eyes were as wide as a galleon when she looked over at him. "You've got to be an imposter or something because the Draco Malfoy that I know would never say I was special. At least not seriously. Sarcastically, perhaps, but not seriously."

"Well, the Hermione I knew wasn't exactly a mean drunk either—"

Her jaw fell open. The alcohol was definitely getting to her. "Ahh, give it enough time and the real Malfoy comes out." She laughed mirthlessly. "You didn't know me at all, Malfoy, remember? You hated me. You took every opportunity you had to make my life miserable."

He nodded and watched her take another large swig of the quickly disappearing pint. This was why he followed her around to pubs. He had walked her home twice without her even realizing it was him. "I did that, yes, and I'm sorry."

"That's right," she said, her words starting to slur. "Because we won." She pointed a finger at his chest. "You're not on top any more. We won. We're famous! Everybody wants to be our friend." She looked back down at her glass and seemed to lose some of her bravado. "Everyone wants to be Harry's friend and Ron's friend. Not me, they don't care about me," she mumbled and tears formed in her eyes. "Everyone wants to be with Ron and he doesn't want to be with me."

She started to sway and he caught her before she fell off of the stool. Hermione had yet to learn that she was an extreme lightweight.

"Ok, Granger, I think you've had enough. Time to go home," he said as he pulled out two English bank notes then told the barkeeper to keep the change.

"I'm not going home with you!" she yelled indignantly, though it was hard to make out a few of the words. "What kind of woman do you think I am?"

"A very drunk one," he mumbled back as he helped her with her coat. "Who is far from home in a rather dodgy part of London."

She looked at him and blinked absently. "You're maybe some right."

He nodded and sighed. He shouldn't have bought her another drink. "Exactly. Let's get you home."


	2. Someone to Watch Over Me

**Someone to Watch Over Me**

Hermione blinked against the light and moaned. "Owww, why…?"

"Good morning," a voice said above her.

Her breath stopped in her throat and she slowly opened one eye. There he was…in the same clothes she was pretty sure he was wearing last night. As if a hangover wasn't bad enough. "You've got to be joking," she groaned.

He held a small bottle out to her. "Drink this," he ordered quietly. "You'll feel better."

"How do I know you're not trying to poison me?" she mumbled even though she knew that he wouldn't. She recalled him walking her home last night…which would explain his presence this morning. Someone who would do that probably wouldn't try to poison her in the morning. Wait…he was still there. "Did you stay…here…with me?"

Draco cocked an eyebrow and smirked. That couldn't be a good sign. "Just drink it. You made this potion," he added when she still looked at him dubiously.

Right, her instant cure for a hangover. Somehow she hadn't had herself in mind when she had created that one. "Fine," she sighed and took the bottle and took a sip. "Oi, I probably could've made that taste better."

He scoffed. "There has to be some punishment for drinking."

She sat up and looked around her room, trying to find any clue as to what had happened the previous night. She remembered walking into the flat, taking off her outer layer of clothes and falling into bed. She hoped that was all that happen. It was all pretty foggy.

"You were drinking too," she retorted…more than a little delayed.

"No," he said from the other room. (She hadn't realized he'd moved.) "I bought a pint, but I didn't drink it." He wanted to add that he'd also bought her a pint that she had proceeded to down in less than five minutes even though she had already been quite inebriated.

"Then why did you buy it?"

"Because I didn't want to look like a stalker," he mumbled. He folded the last blanket and sat it on the end of the couch where he had slept.

Hermione poked her head around the corner, looking much more alive than she had a few minutes before. "But you were a stalker," she argued. She was clearly feeling better. "You slept on my divan?"

He rolled his eyes at the angry tinge in her voice. This was exactly why he stayed away from alcohol; it made people make bad decisions…then forget that they had made them. A very annoying combination. "You wanted me to stay," he said simply.

"Why?" she asked, a little softer that time.

He looked her directly in the eyes and he could tell that she was a little unnerved by it. That hadn't exactly happened a lot between them in their past interactions. "I don't know, but you seemed very set on it. And you gave me blankets, so I stayed."

She broke eye contact with him. His eyes were too intense for her current state of mind. But it was slowly coming back to her. She didn't want to be alone and it was easy to pretend that Draco was someone else because he wasn't acting like the boy who had been so cruel to her in school. He was actually like a nice guy. So she had wanted him to stay…she'd wanted to go asleep knowing that she wasn't alone.

"Thank you," she whispered and she meant it. Despite what he said about making amends, he had no obligation to her.

He nodded. "You're welcome, but I need to go. I have lunch with my mother."

He turned to leave and for some reason the gesture sparked a memory in her…very recent memories. There were a couple evenings that she didn't remember getting from the barstool to her bed… "Wait," she yelled. "Why do I have the sinking suspicion that you've done this before?"

He stopped with his back to her. "I just walked you home. You didn't recognize me."

"Thank you."

He took another step but paused. "I have plans tonight. Please stay home." Then he left, closing the door behind him.

Hermione fell back and plopped down onto her sofa. The potion was just about done working its magic because her brain seemed to be getting clearer by the second. Apparently that happened; this was the first time she was experiencing it for herself. The other times she'd felt this way she hadn't had the where with all to take it. But now she could see things clearly…only they still didn't make sense.

She stared at the closed door. Draco Malfoy had walked her home three times. Draco Malfoy had spent the night on her couch just because she had asked him to. Draco Malfoy, the former death eater and generally horrid person, was willingly helping her without seeming to want anything in return. This proved it; the world no longer made sense…as if she hadn't known that already. If the world made sense she wouldn't be alone…if the world made sense he would still love her…

She shook her head and tried to shake the cold, dark feelings that always overcame her when she dwelled on what had happen too long. There was work to be done and a company to be launched. The clock on the wall read half past ten; she had a meeting with a store owner from Paris at one. It was time to make herself look presentable and get to work. This was important and she couldn't mess it up…like she'd done with everything else recently.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"I'm so excited about 'zis!" the middle aged store owner said with an enthusiastic smile. He shook her hand energetically. "I probably won't be able to keep it on zee shelves."

Hermione smiled and thanked him, pretending like she thought he was complementing her products. She knew it was because she had put her name on the label. Anything with the name of one of the saviors of the magical world was flying off the shelves. Store keepers still could keep a good stock of the book she had written chronicling the time the three of them had spent evading the death eaters and snatchers before the final battle. It was how she still paid for her apartment when her company was costing more money than it was bringing in at the moment.

No matter his motivation, it was still a step in the right direction. Stores all over England were launching her line next week and this store was the proverbial foot in the door for the French market. After Paris she would try for New York and Moscow. If her name was known internationally then perhaps her products soon could be too.

She looked around her office and sighed, falling back into her chair. There were so many pictures smiling and laughing back at her from her school days and one even from a couple months ago. But they only made her feel more alone. There was one of Ron and Her with Harry and Ginny the night that Harry had proposed. They all looked so happy but she knew it had been a lie. Ron's arm was around her shoulders and his eyes were looking over at her with a smile on his face; it was the picture of the perfect boyfriend.

But he wasn't.

She felt a hot tear roll down her cheek and she quickly wiped it away. She was done crying over him. She was done with him. She inhaled deeply and leaned back in her chair. Last night was the final straw. She was taking her life back today. She quickly grabbed piece of parchment and wrote a note to Harry and Ginny to meet her for dinner in Diagon Alley. She wanted to celebrate.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"Hermione, that's brilliant! I'm so happy for you!" Ginny practically squealed when Hermione told her the news.

"That's great, Hermione, really," Harry agreed, without the squealing.

She smiled. It was good to be with them again and having fun. "It's really good. It's one of the oldest shops in Paris and it's a really good start to going international."

The three of them had dinner and Hermione stuck to her butterbeer for the evening. She hadn't realized how much she had missed them the past two weeks. It was nearly midnight when server brought them dessert nearly an hour and a half after they had finished their dinner.

That was when she saw it. The back of a platinum head stepped out of the door and it quickly closed behind him. But she knew it couldn't have been anyone else.

"Would you excuse me for a moment?" she begged quickly as she stood and followed him out the door.

He was clearly about to Apparate when she yelled to get his attention. He froze.

"What're you doing here?" she asked before he even turned around.

When he did turn he just looked at her guiltily.

"Malfoy?"

He looked down for a moment then looked back to her eyes. "Please call me Draco."

She crossed her arms. He was changing the subject when she hadn't even brought it up yet. "Draco, what're you doing here?"

He shrugged. He wanted to show her that he had changed since their school days but she wasn't making it easy. She of all people could bring out the little bits of the old him that still existed. "It's after midnight, I was just checking."

She nodded. He was becoming more of a puzzle every time she met him. "I'm fine. I've been drinking butterbeer and pumpkin juice all evening."

He nodded. "I'll be leaving then."

"You owe me an explanation," she said firmly, but there was a hint of a smile on her lips.

He sighed. This was the point when he always got frustrated. He was only trying to help her, only that, but she didn't seem to believe that. It almost made one want to go back to being horrid. "I'm only trying to help you, Hermione."

"I know," she said quickly, letting her smile grow so he would understand that she wasn't angry. "But you still owe me an explanation."

He sighed again, nodded and disappeared. Her explanation would have to wait because he had people waiting on him.

Hermione watched him disappear and headed back into the restaurant with the smile still on her lips. It was oddly nice to know that she had someone watching over her for once, even if it was some new incarnation of Draco Malfoy.


	3. Relapse

**Relapse**

Draco opened his eyes for the sixth time that night. It was probably four in the morning but he couldn't sleep because every time he closed his eyes the back of his eyes displayed the image of Hermione's subtly smiling face. She was as infuriating as she was alluring and she was made all the more alluring because she had no idea. He couldn't understand why Weasley would ever leave her.

Come to think of it, he still didn't actually know what had happened with Weasley and why she had started drowning her sorrows in pubs. If she wanted an explanation from him then she owed him one first. After all, he was the one helping her.

His heavy eyelids fell shut and he sighed. He'd been reminiscent lately, not in a sentimental way though. He knew that the way he had been in the past was not the way he should live his life. Most of the time he hadn't wanted to live that way when he was. He just thought about it and the way he had been.

He was better now. He felt better; he was happy with his new life. He had friends now, real friends, not minions like he'd had in school. He even had a small group of Muggle friends. He'd love to see Hermione's face if she knew that.

He sighed again. Apparently he had changed even more than he'd realized.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Hermione wiped at a tear in the darkness and rolled over. It was always hardest at night, when she was alone. She didn't like being alone. Perhaps that was why she had taken to drinking when she had barely had a drop previously. If she was intoxicated then there was no lying awake at night, thinking thoughts that she would much rather live without.

But tonight she was sober and so she was crying.

Ginny and Harry had been nice enough to not mention Ron or what had happened between them. She knew very well that he hadn't told them. She would tell them in good time, but she still wasn't ready. Still, tonight had been a step in the right direction because she had come straight home after being with them. Of course, that also meant she probably wouldn't get to sleep for hours.

She closed her eyes in another attempt at sleep and a sudden memory flooded her thoughts. _Please call me Draco. _The sound of his voice still rang in her ears. The Draco that she had grown up with would have dared people to call him by his first name, but he had just asked her to. This new Draco was…intriguing, to say the least. He had told her that morning that he had plans but he had shown up anyway, just to check up on her.

For the first time in too many weeks, Hermione fell asleep without Ron Weasley on her mind and a smile on her lips.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Hermione looked at her clock and sighed. This was the third hairstyle that she had tried and the third hairstyle that she didn't like. Tonight she had to look happy and content and free. She needed this more for herself than anything else. It was high time she moved on.

She tried a fourth style and glanced in the mirror when she heard a knock on her door. She stood with a contented smile; this hairstyle was good enough to answer the door at least. Only, her breath caught in her throat when she opened the door and there stood Ron, turned sideways with one hand leaning against the wall.

He smiled and all of the progress she had made almost noticeably went up in smoke.

"Ron?"

"Hey, Hermione," he said in his relaxed way. "Uh, did I leave my corduroy jacket here, by any chance? I've searched my flat ten times and I can't find it."

She swallowed hard and hoped that he couldn't feel her pounding chest through the floor because I felt as though it was vibrating the entire building. "Uh," she said and hoped that her voice did move with her heart. "It might be in the closet. Come in."

He stepped just inside and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Are you, uh, going somewhere tonight?"

She opened the closet door quickly to hide her stressed face. "No," she lied. "I have some work to do."

"Well, I like your hair."

Hermione halted and closed her eyes slowly, making up her mind to change her hair once more. "Thank you."

There was an awkward silence for a few moments while Hermione quickly searched and found the jacket he had left there.

"Found it," she said thrusting it toward him.

"Ah, thanks. I've got a party tonight and this was the only thing I could think of to wear."

She forced a smile. She'd wager he had a date for that party too. "Well, there it is. Have fun."

"Yeah," he mumbled in his usual manner. "Uh, thanks. I'll, uh, see you later."

Hermione nodded and watched him walk out, closing the door behind him. She immediately walked to her mirror and changed her hairstyle. This time she didn't care. She pulled on her jacket, picked up her purse and headed out the door.

Her previous resolve was decimated.

.-.-.-.-.-.

It was Wednesday and, if Draco recalled, Wednesdays were always the worst for some reason. The times that he had needed to walk her home, the times she hadn't even recognized him, had been Wednesday nights. He pulled out his desk drawer and touched the tip of his wand to the underside of the desk until a folded piece of parchment fell into the nearly empty drawer. He didn't know why he concealed it because he lived alone. Even when he did have visitors he kept his study locked because he often had his Muggle friends over and they couldn't see the many obvious magical artifacts that he kept in that room.

But he concealed it nevertheless. He unfolded it and tapped it three times in the unique rhythm he'd created so it would be all the more difficult for someone else to access it.

He sighed and replaced the parchment. He hoped this wouldn't go as badly as the past weeks had. He Apparated to Diagon Alley and walked into Muggle London and headed toward the pub. It was about five blocks from her building but, as far as he knew, she hadn't been to this one before. He hoped it wasn't as dodgy as the last one he'd pulled her out of.

He looked at his watch before he stepped through the streaky, glass door. This establishment was already an improvement from the last; someone had at least tried to clean the windows. It only took one sweep of the room to spot Hermione and even though he could only see her back, he could tell that she was already three sheets to the wind. She was swaying ever so slightly back and forth on her stool and he immediately noticed the barkeeper eyeing her with clear concern.

Draco approached her and immediately put his arm around her shoulders to steady her. "Hermione?"

Her head turned slowly to look up at him. Her eyes were almost too red and tears were streaming down her cheeks and clearly had been for awhile.

"Been 'ere for a while, that one," the barkeeper said in a thick, Yorkshire accent. "You 'er boyfriend?"

"Just a friend," he replied and took the empty glass out of her hand. She made a move to grab it back but her arms fell back to the bar instead.

"She's been cryin' like that fer an hour now."

Draco nodded and he couldn't help but feel compassion for her. He had seen her drunk too many times, but he'd never seen her like this. Something different must have happened to cause this. "Has she got a tab?"

The man waved him off and looked at Hermione sadly. "Nah, she paid most up front. I'd recommend getting 'er home safe soon though, I'll start gettin' real busy in about twenty minutes."

Ignoring the wave off, Draco dug in his pocket and quickly laid a five pound note on the bar. He had the distinct feeling that this barkeeper had been keeping a special look after Hermione during the evening. He had the look of a father about him.

Hermione slumped against him when he attempted to get her off of the stool and onto her feet. She was clearly not capable of walking herself home. Anger always sparked deep in his stomach when she let herself get like this. How had she planned on getting home? She was only five blocks away but five blocks might as well be five kilometers when she couldn't even walk to the door.

Since she couldn't hold herself up, he did something he had never imagined himself doing. He bent down and swept Hermione up into his arms. He was glad that she was a bit of a waif; at least he was now that she was safely in his arms. He kept a tight grip on her during the five block trek to her building and only sat her on her feet long enough to dig her keys out of her purse and open the door.

He had learned the hard way last week that his wand would not gain him access when he'd failed and she had drunkenly teased him before fetching her keys.

This evening though, she was fast asleep. He gently placed her on her bed and removed her shoes before putting her under the covers. Then he fetched a blanket for himself and made himself comfortable on the sofa. She hadn't asked him to stay this time but he was going to anyway.

And they were going to have a very serious conversation in the morning.


	4. Explanation

**Explanation**

For a moment, Hermione felt as though she was experiencing déjà vu. A window opened and caused severe pain to shoot into her eyes and back through her head. Then, seconds later, a shadow from above her blocked the light and spoke to her in a low voice. "Good morning."

However childish, she moaned and rolled over. "I beg to differ."

She heard him sigh and for the life of her she couldn't understand why he put himself through this willingly. She was not an easy person to take care of when she was under the weather, she knew that very well.

He allowed her to have her way for another five seconds. "Drink this and get up," he said firmly. His patience with her was running out.

She heard him set the vile on her bedside table and his foot falls left her bedroom. As she rolled over to do what he had bid, she wondered if she had asked him to stay again last night. She couldn't remember a thing about the previous evening and if she felt like this in the morning, it was probably better that way.

As she nearly gagged on her own concoction, she remembered what he had said the last time this had happened. So Draco Malfoy didn't drink. Another ripple in the mystery of the person he had become. She would have pegged him as a partier in school, and perhaps he had been, but he clearly wasn't now. She was a little amazed that she hadn't questioned this sooner.

After her face was washed and her rumpled, day old attire replaced, she made her way out into the kitchen where Draco had made himself at home. It was one of the strangest sights she had seen in her life. And with her life, that was saying something. "Are you making breakfast?"

"I'm hungry," he said, sounding a little guilty. "And you take forever."

That sounded more like the Draco she knew.

"Sit," he directed and set a tumbler of pumpkin juice in front of her. "Drink."

Hermione eyed him but gratefully took a sip. She had brushed her teeth but the aftertaste of her potion still lingered in her mouth. She really needed to work on the formula. "What are you making?"

"Just a bit of toast," he mumbled without turning around.

She watched his movements and for a moment she felt the need to pinch herself. Draco Malfoy was making toast in her kitchen. She was quite certain that she would never get used to this new Draco.

He soon placed a small plate with two pieces of toast in front of her and sat down to a plate himself. She watched him take a rather large bite, chew it up and audibly swallow it. He then looked at her firmly and said, "Explain."

Her first reaction was to ask what, but she knew very well what. She took a small bite and set the toast back on the plate. Remembering what had happened still kind of made her lose her appetite. But it was time that she told somebody. It was to that point that holding it all inside was hurting more than saying it out loud…and it had been that way for a while.

She took a deep breath and exhaled sharply. "Fine…"

_Hermione turned of the water in her sink just as the knock sounded again. Her brow furrowed in confusion as she headed for the door; she wasn't expecting anyone today._

_A smile immediately lit her face when she opened the door. "Hello, Ronald, I wasn't expecting you."_

_A half-hearted smile flashed for an instant and disappeared as quickly. "I, uh, need to talk to you."_

_Something in his comportment made her heart skip a beat, and not in a good way. "Oh, okay. Come in."_

_He sauntered into the apartment and plopped himself onto one of the chairs around the table. He was still for a moment then he scooted back and rested his elbows on his thighs. "Listen, there's not a good way to say this really."_

_Hermione stumbled back into her door. Her mind was going crazy; that was the worst yet most vague thing that anyone could say. Had something happened to Harry or Ginny or his family? "What?"_

_He licked his lips and looked at the floor. "When we were young I thought that we were gonna die, you know, and I-I didn't want to be alone, right? And you liked me a lot, and we were best mates and all so I thought I would try, you know."_

_Her knees nearly buckled under her. So this is what he'd come to do._

_He finally looked up at her. He didn't look sad or even compassionate even. "The thing is… I'm still trying. It's just not gonna happen."_

_Her eyes burned with tears and she could hear her heart pounding in her ears. She knew she should have seen this coming but for all intents and purposes she had been blind. She had ignored his flirtatious tendencies because she had believed that they were meant to be together; it was their destiny. Everyone said so. _

_Apparently everyone was wrong._

"_Well that's that then, isn't it?" she whispered shakily without looking at him._

_He stood. "Yeah."_

"_Well, I need to finish getting ready for work," she said quickly, bringing herself up to her full height and opening the door. "I'll see you later."_

_He walked out the door as unceremoniously as he had walked in. "Yeah, later."_

Draco's mouth hung slightly ajar as Hermione wiped a tear from her cheek. "Just like that?"

She nodded and shrugged. "Just like that. I probably should have seen it coming, but he told me he loved me. And I was stupid enough to believe him."

He watched her look out the window that was three stories up and it was obvious that she was trying her hardest not to cry anymore than she already had. He resisted the sudden and frightening urge to pull her into his arms and tell her it was okay to cry. It wasn't okay to get drunk out of her mind every night, but it was okay to cry. She had been mistreated and she was blaming herself. He wanted to hold her and whisper in her ear that it wasn't her fault.

He made a white knuckled fist and forced himself to remain where he was. He doubted that she would welcome comfort from him yet. Instead, he whispered; "It's not your fault."

Hermione looked at him and she suddenly no longer had to fight her tears. This man that she knew and yet didn't seem to know at all had seen her at her very worst. He had seen her hit rock bottom unlike anyone else in the world, magical or muggle, ever had. She didn't have to fight crying in front of him. He knew she was hurt and, if the growing tightening in her throat was any indication, she still had tears ahead of her. And somehow this was better than crying alone.

"I know," she finally whispered through silently flowing tears. "I just wish that I could've seen it coming and prevented it. I loved him for so long and I thought he loved me and he just didn't want to admit it. Everyone thought so. How does someone pretend for three years?"

Draco just listened to her. He had no real response even though when his life had finally taken a turn for the better he had realized that he'd been pretending his whole life. But the only person he had hurt was himself…if one could ignore the many students that he'd verbally tortured throughout school. In the long run though, he was the one who had suffered the most.

He opened his mouth to ask her what had happened yesterday to make it this bad again, but Hermione supplied the information willingly.

She wiped at her cheeks and seemed to rally a little as she went on. "And last night he had audacity to come over and just get this jacket that he left here and tell me he's going to a party like nothing had ever happened between us."

So that was it, Draco thought. It must have been the first time she'd seen him since he'd broken up with her. No wonder she was upset. He looked on her with more compassion then he had felt in a long time. Despite the way he had felt about her and treated her in school, he knew that the woman in front of him had deserved much better than this.


End file.
